Farewell to ‘The Hills,’ With a Wink and a Nod

From the ArtsBeat Blog at the NYT:

"“The Hills” ended on Tuesday with a wink to all the fans and critics who have questioned its semi-scripted nature over the years.

After Kristin Cavallari said goodbye to her former boyfriend, Brody Jenner, on a quiet street, the Hollywood sign gleaming in the distance, the camera pulled back to reveal that Mr. Jenner was standing on a studio backlot, implying that the coming-of-age-in-tinseltown stories were never as real as they appeared."

The end of the Hills; the end of an era (or sideshow.) Here's what I remarked after first watching: "I found myself oddly moved by the finale, the obligatory photo montage, the labored attempt at narrative closure, the confused attempt at being 'self-reflexive' at the end; the genuine pathos of Brody and Kristen's mismatch; the utter absence of Speidi and L.C.

A ‘Law & Order’ Farewell: These Were Their Stories

From the ArtsBeat Blog at the NYT:

"The acting on “Law & Order” in recent seasons has been at a level far above that on “Lost” and “24,” shows often singled out for their performances. More mystifying — or galling — has been reading the weepy comments about how much the complex characters of “Lost” will be missed. Elaborate back stories don’t make characters any less two-dimensional. The police and prosecutors of “Law & Order” may have spent most of their time in dingy offices and had no personal lives to speak of, but we’ll likely miss them more in the long run than the hothouse heroes of those other shows. That’s what happens when you focus on the writing and the acting for, say, 20 years."

Hear, hear. Say what you want, but Law & Order was a giant and we are the poorer for its end. God bless the cast, past and present, and long live its continued existence in syndication.